Willis Carrier, in full Willis Haviland Carrier (born November 26, 1876, Angola, New York, U.S.—died October 7, 1950, New York City) American inventor and industrialist who formulated the basic theories of air conditioning. In 1902, while an engineer with the Buffalo Forge Company, Carrier designed the first system to control temperature and humidity. His “Rational Psychrometric Formulae,” introduced in a 1911 engineering paper, initiated scientific air-conditioning design. He was a founder (1915) of the Carrier Corporation, manufacturer of air-conditioning equipment.

Willis Haviland Carrier, 1915.

Carrier Corporation

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Important innovations in cooling technology followed. The development of refrigeration machines for food storage played a role, but the key element was Willis Carrier’s 1906 patent that solved the problem of humidity removal by condensing the water vapour on droplets of cold water sprayed into an airstream. Starting with humidity control in tobacco and textile factories, Carrier slowly...

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(1876-1950). American inventor and industrialist Willis Haviland Carrier formulated the basic theories of air conditioning. In 1915 he founded the Carrier Corporation, a manufacturer of air-conditioning equipment.